RedPrairie moves to the cloud

   RedPrairie, an Atlanta-based supply chain and retail technology provider, announced that its Merchandise Management and Direct Commerce applications are now available as on-demand through the cloud.
   RedPrairie is adding cloud versions of these applications as part of an overall cloud platform strategy, touting its ability to save money and provide more efficient systems for small and mid-sized businesses.
   The company said these cloud applications will help companies optimize merchandising, inventory management, customer service, warehouse management, point of sale and make more informed decisions on vendor and customer relationships. The Direct Commerce service provides a common interface and support for customers shopping online, in a store, through a call center, or on a mobile device.
   RedPrairie said it focuses its offerings on retailers with seasonal businesses because it feels they can benefit the most by removing the need to build an on-premise solution and the infrastructure to support it.
   “With an on-premise solution, retailers must build up their computing capacity to handle peak periods during the height of their busy season or risk customer dissatisfaction. That means at off-peak times of the year, they have excess computing capacity sitting idle for which they are still paying,” the company said in a statement. — Geoff Whiting